CEASEFIRE ALONE WON'T HELP REVIVE GAZA'S NEAR COLLAPSE HEALTH SYSTEM

In this week's edition, Doctors Without Borders calls for South Africa to assist with medical evacuations from Gaza.

- STAFF REPORTER

SHAHEED, 16, from Rafah, Gaza, was sleeping when an Israeli airstrike hit her home, killing her father and sister. Shaheed felt a lot of pressure, smelled smoke, and then remembered waking up in the ambulance. Shaheed suffered a serious injury to her leg and almost had to have it amputated. After receiving surgery at the European hospital in Gaza, she was eventually evacuated and came to the MSF Reconstructive Surgery Hospital in Amman, Jordan, where she is receiving comprehensive treatment.

(MOISES SAMAN)

WHILE the sound of gunfire and bombs fades by the day in Gaza, a health crisis awaits the area reeling from two years of Israeli genocide.

With the healthcare infrastructure being near total collapse, medical evacuations are the only chance of survival for more than 15,600 people who can't get the medical care they need in Gaza. Thousands of patients are still trapped without access to lifesaving care.

This dire situation has triggered the global medical humanitarian organisation, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to intensify its calls for medical evacuations.

Medical evacuations resumed on October 22, following a nearly one-month suspension since September 29.

MSF said it was concerned that while many governments had both the capacity and medical expertise to accept patients, too few have opened their borders to save lives.

“South Africa - a country hailed for its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice - has not carried out any medical evacuation so far,” said MSF.